Tag Archives: Suffolk County Childcare
Au Pair in America went Canoeing on the Nissequogue River
Today, Sunday July 27th, Cindy Garruba and Eileen Friedman enjoyed canoeing the Nissequogue River with 25 au pairs from their Long Island clusters. Rain was in the forecast this morning and this evening, but the daytime was perfect for canoeing. 2 to 3 au pairs matched up in canoes for the 2 hour trip.
We passed families of swans and one group even saw a water turtle! A few tangles into the reeds growing along the river bank and then everyone got the hang of it. At the end of the trip, some of the group picnicked at the Paul T. Givens park near the famous Smithtown Bull.
3 of the au pairs were at their very last cluster activity with their Long Island friends. They each had spent at least one year on Long Island, one is heading for a 2nd year but in Connecticut this time.
Our August activity includes some host families, too! What could be more American than an evening of baseball? We will be going to a Sunday evening Long Island Ducks baseball game!
Au Pair in America Summer & Water Safety
On Sunday, June 8th the Suffolk County, LI Au Pairs had a cluster meeting at their Community Counselor, Cindy Garruba’s beach house on the beautiful North Fork of Long Island. They spent time enjoying the summer weather, even a few took dips in the chilly Long Island Sound! Everyone got to know each other a little better, many new au pairs meeting current au pairs for the first time!
The meeting heading inside for some serious talk on summer and water safety. A former lifeguard and swim instructor, Cindy reviewed basic water safety since all the au pairs will visit the beautiful Long Island beaches or swim in their host family pools, many while caring for their host children. We also reviewed first aid, sunscreen usage, hydrating in the heat, what poison ivy prevention and explained ticks, lyme disease and more.
Presentation of awards and certificates followed the safety lesson. Cindy is presenting Justine Probst, German au pair, with a Global Awareness recognition certificate. Justine did a lesson on German culture in her host child’s second grade classroom. A wonderful way for children to learn first hand about another culture!
4 au pairs will be heading home soon and came to their last cluster meeting. Thanks for all the love and support you gave your host families and fellow au pairs this year!
Jarka from Slovakia; Ramona, Chrisi & Jessica from Germany are heading home
Jarka from Slovakia; Ramona, Chrisi & Jessica from Germany are heading home
We finished up with strawberries, blueberries and cream. It is strawberry season on the local Long Island farms! Then a few last pictures on the deck. Everyone had fun!
Au Pairs Enjoy NY Color Run!
A team of Au Pair in America Long Island Au Pairs ran the Color Run in Queens last weekend.
The Color Run was founded in March of 2011 as an event to promote healthiness and happiness by bringing the community together to participate in the “Happiest 5k on the Planet”. Check it out here.
The Au Pair in America team was organized by Aisha Summers, a Canadian au pair living with a host family in Coram. She recruited au pair friends Christine Van Tonder, Shireen Hendricks , Corinna Sommerman, and Elsmarie Otto to run with her. They came up with a team uniform, white t-shirts, colorful tutus and accessories! They met early that morning and took the Long Island Railroad to the event. The festivities were fun and they all want to do it again sometime.
Aisha said, “The color run is to celebrate yourself as a person, where you are in life and what you’ve accomplished as an individual 🙂 I think my favorite part was really just forgetting the stresses and enjoying a great event with great people creating a great memory!”
Christine a South African au pair living in Smithtown shared, “The reason I did is was so that I can spend some time with friends away from work and had previously heard about the color run and it seemed like a fun experience. The actual event was very awesome, planned out well, colorful of course, there was music playing, everyone (the runners and race organizers) was very friendly and happy which created a great atmosphere. My favorite part of the race had to be just spending it with some of my friends and also crossing the finish line with all all the other people that had finished as well and properly celebrating it right there with music and of course the throwing of colored powder, which looked incredible. I would like to do it again and am hoping to do the one coming up in July, in Brooklyn, hopefully get some more people into it. All and all i think the color run was a great idea to do as a group, and the message behind it is so much more meaningful, just knowing that it promotes healthy living around the world, and supports charities is a wonderful accomplishment, not to mention all the smiles it generates. I definitely encourage other people to try t out, at least once.”
Corinna a German au pair living in Huntington added, “ The color run was so much fun. I did it because I wanted to meet some other girls and it just sounded fun and I saw so many pictures but I never did it myself.. I checked out their website for pictures and I saw that they also do it in Germany, so I definitely will do it again with my German friends 🙂 My favorite part was of course getting dirty and party afterwards with the girls 🙂 It was such a nice day, even though we all had to get up early, but it was totally worth it!”
Congratulations to the Team! Spreading good will and happiness with a cultural flair!
Brazilian Au Pair Shares Her Culture with Kindegarten Students
Susette Araujo Sousa from Brazil visited Minnesauke Elementary School to share her culture with her host child’s Kindergarten class. Mrs. Sheridan welcomed her and the students were excited to listen and learn!
Susette showed off the Brazilian flag colors and explained their meanings. Green for the earth, gold for the minerals and blue for the sky!
She talked about Brazil’s pride in the World Cup and lots of the students talked about playing soccer!
The children loved the brigadeiros that Susette brought to share!
Monika’s Poem Read at Graduation!
The one poem read at the Suffolk County Community College ESL graduation ceremony was by Au Pair Monika Vuic from Croatia. Monika is the au pair for a family in Mt. Sinai.
Way to go Monika!
Time Keeps Flowing
Time keeps flowing
Years have passed,
But what matters
Is in our hearts.
It doesn’t matter
How old we are:
Achieving our goals
Will get us far.
Let’s mark our lives
Fulfilling our dreams,
Achieving our goals
Will get us far.
Let’s mark our lives
Fulfilling our dreams,
Loving nature and feeling its streams.
Always remember and never forget
We’ve come this far
And we’re not done yet!
A beautiful future awaits
Because we are in front of open gates.
Time keeps flowing,
Years will pass
But what matters
Is in our hearts
By Monika Vuic
Au Pairs Graduate from ESL Program at Suffolk County Community College
Suffolk County Community College has an excellent ESL program for adult students. Many Au Pair in America au pairs choose SCCC for their required college classes. Since there are 5 levels of English classes to graduate from the ESL program, often au pairs will extend for a second year because they want to complete the 5 levels.
SCCC held ESL graduation on Friday, May 16th at 7 PM at the Van Nostrand Auditorium on the Grant or Western Campus of the college. The ceremony was very moving with several graduates telling stories about their journey to the USA and why they came. The au pairs all dressed up, many host families came to watch their au pairs graduate. This Spring 10 Suffolk County Au Pair in America Au Pairs graduated from the ESL program. Congratulations to Adele Mosquero, Priscilla Rodrigues, Nikoleta Todtova, Victoria Morales, Anais Nivon, Monika Vuic, Ramona Etzel, Linyan Feng, Natalia Jaramillo, and Andressa Mendonca. As their Community Counselor, Cindy Garruba was happy to attend the ceremony and congratulated each individually with a rose.
The State Department requires each au pair attend an accredited College or University for 6 credits or 72 hours of post secondary education for each year in the USA. Host families contribute $500 towards this education requirement. One semester of ESL satisfies the requirement, but many au pairs attend for several semesters. Au Pairs can stay for 2 years in America.
APIA Counselors are the Best Trained!
Au Pair in America Community Counselors, Stamford & London Offices and our Foreign Partners gathered in Chicago May 7 – 10 for our Conference. We were led by Ruth Ferry, executive director and senior VP of APIA USA and Linda James, senior VP APIA UK. They inspired and led the group, along with William Gertz, President and CEO of APIA.
We learned about new systems and innovations, managing situations that arise, cultural communication and so much more. Connections through out the group were fostered and understanding increased.
We stayed at the Drake Hotel, a beautiful art deco hotel right on Lake Michigan. Our gala the last night was a big hit and everyone dressed as flappers or gangsters!
Selecting Au Pair in America for your childcare needs will allow you to have the best supported Community Counselor, staff and foreign interviewers. We have ongoing training throughout the year with webinars on many topics. There is always someone available to help a family or au pair when needed!
The State Department sent representatives to participate in the conference. APIA is determined to abide by all regulations and considers the partnership with the State Department key to our success since 1986!
2nd Graders Visit With German Au Pair
German Au Pair, Justine Probst visited her host child’s 2nd grade classroom to talk about her country with the students.
She showed the students a traditional dirndl dress she made for October fest. She said she wore it to Octoberfest here with her host family!
She engaged the students by asking them questions about Germany. Many knew it is in Europe. Justine showed them where on the world map.
She brought a German flag and some of the children knew the colors before she even showed it to them!
She brought some euros and explained that most of Europe uses euros for money. The children all got a chance to see and touch the money.
They learned some words in German and even sang the song “Happy Birthday” in German! Justine kept the children interested and they were engaged in her lesson.
Au Pairs from Au Pair in America are encouraged to share their culture with American students through a program called Global Awareness. http://www.globalawareness.com/
Au Pair in America au pairs not only provide childcare but are also active in their local communities. Global Awareness, a unique volunteer program sponsored by Au Pair in America, is designed to foster a greater knowledge of the diversity and variety of cultures the world has to offer.
Au pairs go into elementary school classrooms, libraries, local bookstores, cub scout and brownie groups and other areas of interest to children to share their culture. One teacher recently said “60 kids will go home today knowing more about the world than when they first arrived at school this morning”.
The au pairs present a wide variety of topics and all the presentations are interactive and fun for the children!
A Spring Sunday Walk Across the Brooklyn Bridge
On Sunday, April 27th Long Island Au Pairs from Au Pair in America walked from Borough Hall in Brooklyn to Manhattan across the Brooklyn Bridge. Lots of people were walking around the city and across the bridge on the beautiful Sunday afternoon.
The Long Island Community Counselors organized the afternoon and joined the au pairs on the walk. Cindy Garruba, Eileen Friedman and Andrea Wax enjoy spending time with the au pairs in their cluster. Next month the clusters will be going to Bullets Over Broadway, a new Broadway musical. Most of the au pairs will be seeing their first show on Broadway!
